Gurugram: Water supply hit for 4th day as GMDA repairs damaged pipeline

High water table delayed welding of 1600 mm valve at Chandu Budhera; officials say supply may resume Tuesday after overnight repairs

Water supply in many parts of the city remained affected for the fourth consecutive day on Monday as officials of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) continued repair work on a large joint of a 1600 mm master pipeline that was damaged on Friday afternoon.

Valve failure at Chandu Budhera cut supply to Old Gurugram and multiple sectors; Basai output raised to manage shortage (HT)

GMDA officials said the major hurdle in repairing the valve and pipeline was water accumulation at the site due to a high water table. Officials said teams were working round the clock to dewater the area so that the valves could be welded together.

“The valve got disjointed because of a change in the temperature, and due to the damage to the pipeline, the entire water supply network has suffered at Chandu Budhera. We are working overnight to repair the valve, and work is likely to get completed by Monday night. We will try and resume the supply by Tuesday,” said Abhinav Verma, executive engineer, GMDA, who has been overseeing the repair work at the Chandu Budhera plant for the past three days.

On why the valve failure was not anticipated, he said such ruptures had never occurred earlier due to temperature variation or pipe shrinkage. To prevent a recurrence, he said the authority plans to install heavy-duty imported valves at critical locations.

To manage the shortage caused by reduced supply from Chandu Budhera, officials said the drinking water supply from the Basai plant has been increased. “To resolve such problems in future, we are planning to create alternative supply nodes so that pipelines can be bypassed,” Verma said.

The Chandu Budhera plant supplies around 400 MLD of water to the city, while 270 MLD is supplied from the Basai plant. Officials said that since both plants are interlinked, a disruption at one facility affected operations at the other.

GMDA officials said they had also asked the irrigation department to reduce the water supply to the Chandu Budhera water treatment plant to expedite repairs. The plant was flooded earlier on Sunday after water could neither be pumped to the Basai water treatment plant nor supplied to the city.

On communication with residents, Verma said junior officials were regularly updating RWAs and locals on the ground situation.

Officials said the authority is also considering long-term measures to prevent similar failures in the future. These include installing specialised valves at key locations and procuring jacket valves for immediate repairs during emergencies.

With the pipeline still not operational, residents said the water supply has been severely affected, especially in Old Gurugram. Areas facing disruption include Madanpuri, Manohar Nagar, Baldev Nagar, New Colony, Jyoti Park, Arjun Nagar, Ram Nagar, Vijay Park, Subhash Nagar, Nai Abadi, Jacobpura, Shivpuri, Bhim Nagar, Ambedkar Colony, Devi Lal Nagar, Sector-7 Extension, Sector-7 and Sector-4. Residents also said water supply was affected in several sectors from Sector 1 to Sector 23 and in developing sectors of the city.